


Just holding on to time

by HmmAboldclaim



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF, Schitt's Creek RPF
Genre: Glaad awards, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HmmAboldclaim/pseuds/HmmAboldclaim
Summary: GLAAD awards 2019 after party, Mainly Noah's POV. Angst. I'm in a mood today, this drabble came out.
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	Just holding on to time

You have no right Reid, he thought to himself.

Noah leaned against the bar, nursing his third bourbon. It had been an overwhelming night. Fan after fan had come up to him and let him know that Patrick and David, the characters and the story, changed their lives. Sometimes someone would just let him know that the character of Patrick and his journey of discovery helped them realize their own path or helped them come out to their loved ones. It was a lot to take in. He thinks someday he will get used to it, but every story that he is told, every heartfelt thank you for his portrayal of Patrick, fills him up to overflowing and his chest feels like it is about to burst open. Will he ever do any other work in his life that gave meaning to so many? Will he ever get to work again with this group of people, with Dan, who cared to much about the art they were putting out into the world?

He’s been having these thoughts since the trip to Italy, but tonight is different. He is distracted. He cannot even appreciate all the love and affection he is receiving from fan after fan, even celebrities coming up to him and applauding his portrayal of Patrick and his role in the David and Patrick love story. He thought tonight would be a fitting end and celebration to the magic that Dan created. But, his bourbon addled brain was not letting him enjoy it as much as he should be.

Noah’s eyes scanned the room. He noticed Dan right away, in a far corner, holding court in a circle of admirers. Stacey was by his side, but the rest of the group included many people Noah did not know. All men, all gorgeous, all looking at Dan like he was their last meal before their execution. He frowned and threw back the remainder of his drink, signaling the bartender for another.

You have no right.

He noticed one man in particular. Tall, built with sandy colored, perfectly coiffed hair and a sculpted jawline, standing to the right side of Dan, obviously eye fucking him for the past 10 minutes or so. The man made a comment every now and then and Dan let out a laugh, at one point, pushing his glasses back with his finger, a small smirk at the right side of his mouth, a move Noah knew very well and which made his stomach twist when he saw Dan throw it towards someone besides him.

You have no right.

Another man joined the circle and came up behind Dan, laying a hand on his back and whispering something in his ear. Noah recognized him as one of the handlers for tonight’s gala, one of the many Glaad PR staff who basically did everything for the cast the past couple of days. Carson was not drop dead gorgeous like most of the man hovering around Dan all night, but he definitely had that certain something. He was charming and sarcastic and cute in a didn’t know he was cute kind of way. Yes, Noah knew how to play that card, he had been doing it his whole life. Carson low key flirted with both Dan and Noah for the past couple of days, but Noah knew he was laser focused on Dan.

You have no right.

Noah’s jaw clenched when he saw that famous celebrity, you know the one, tall, dark and desperate, join the group. He instantly made Dan laugh out loud and was definitely getting handsy, placing his arm around Dan, rubbing his lower back. Noah started to move subconsciously, trying to decide if this was the time he should walk over to the group. It was at that second Dan looked his way. They locked eyes for a few seconds. Dan raised an eyebrow and Noah smirked back, but he settled back against the bar, not moving to walk over to join the circle. Dan’s eyes clouded for a second when he saw Noah was not going to join him, before his attention was drawn back into the group around him.

You have no right.

Later in the night Noah is sitting with Emily chatting about the upcoming logistics for the UCP tour and he notices Dan in the corner with a man Noah met earlier. Josh something? He was a lawyer for Glaad and Noah really liked him. He was smart and sweet with the body of an Olympic swimmer. Dan was intently listening to something the man was saying. He saw the man give Dan his card and they smiled at one another and hugged (hugged?!) before they parted ways. Noah realized Emily was watching him and waiting for a response to a question she just asked, but he honestly had no idea what she was saying for the past minute or so. He turned his attention back to her and said ‘What?’ Emily raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Dan walked over to them. He was excited and giddy and both Noah and Emily couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. Dan pulled them with him as they were all going to his hotel suite for the after party. Noah wondered how many of Dan’s new admirers would be there.

You have no right.

In reality, there were no new admirers. It was all of Dan’s close friends and some of the Schitt's Creek crew who were like family. Noah was more than slightly buzzed and a little agitated, so he stayed in the corner and chatted with Stacey and Annie, staring at Dan with moony eyes most of the night, but then avoiding Dan’s eyes when he glanced his way. Noah inwardly cursed at himself for being such an asshole and for acting like a 14-year-old. A 14-year-old asshole. He didn’t want to have to be near Dan tonight, his entire body felt on edge, his mind going a mile a minute. He felt if he allowed Dan to look into his eyes or get close enough to get him alone, everything he was thinking and feeling would come out. He couldn’t and didn’t want that to happen. Not now. So he made himself snap out of his mood and chatted up his friends, Amy, Stacey, Sarah. The hours passed quickly as the laughter and reminiscing grew louder.

An hour or so later, the party has thinned with just the core group of Dan’s friends and family lounging around the very large living area of the suite. Noah is sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, Stacey’s long red hair splayed out along his thighs. She has probably drunk more than anyone and it is finally catching up to her. Her eyes are closed as Noah runs his hands absentmindedly through her silky auburn hair. It feels nice, not weird at all. The cast parties, especially with the core group, often ended with the lot of them, playfully, almost innocently, laying in each other’s laps, or hugging or dancing out their strong emotional bonds, none of them have ever been able to quite explain. He looks down at her and gets an extremely vivid, previously forgotten flashback of a dark and smoky party, almost 15 years ago, when they first met and made out in the corner of some long forgotten Degrassi cast member’s basement, his hands running through Stacey’s hair and then awkwardly trying to unhook her bra. How had he forgotten that? His current face journey must be something to behold because as he shakes his head to clear himself of that awkward memory, he feels a nudge on his calf, Dan is sitting across from him, smiling at him quizzically, his toe moving up his solid calf muscle, his eyebrow pushed up almost to his hairline and his mouth quirked to the side, leering at Noah’s hand as it continues to stroke Stacey’s hair and face. Noah blushed. Then he actually blushed again, because he is a 31-year-old man who is blushing. He takes his hand from Stacey’s hair and doesn’t quite know what to do with it now, he kind of flails it around, in an oddly accurate, though subconscious imitation of Dan’s usual antics, when he uses his hands to make a point. Dan hasn’t stopped staring at him and Noah’s eyes get wider. He feels stripped bare under Dan’s steady gaze and then he feels a stirring in the pit of his belly and knows he better get up soon, or Stacey will be feeling something he does not want her to feel right now, or ever, for that matter. Noah is glad he changed into a long hoodie and loose sweatpants instead of his fitted suit or thank goodness, his tight jeans. Between Dan’s’ heated gaze and his toe rubbing circles into Noah’s calf, Noah feels very warm. He gets up suddenly, with the excuse of having to go to the bathroom. Stacey barely even woke up, even though his abrupt departure, made her hit her head on the admittedly plush carpet.

You have no right.

Noah is washing his hands, when he hears a light tap on the door. He was about to protest that someone was inside when Dan appears and locks the door behind him. Dan had changed as well and is wearing one of his insanely soft white t shirts he must have dozens of and a pair of black silky loose drawstring shorts. His hair is sticking up at all angles and Noah aches at the sight of him, his hands twitching with the desire to run his fingers through it. Dan sees Noah staring and looks in the mirror, wincing, and attempts to arrange his silky raven locks into some semblance of order, before he turns back to face him.

“Hi”, Dan said, softly, giving him that patented half smile/half smirk with a little eyebrow thrown in for good measure.

Noah knew he was one of many, many people who reacted to that glance in a similar way. His stomach twisted and he felt his heart constrict.

"Hey", Noah said, drying his hands on the plush hotel towel.

"I’ve barely seen you all night", Dan said softly, moving closer towards Noah, rubbing a hand up and down his arm. Noah glanced down at Dan’s hand and looked up from under his eyelashes.

"Yeah well, you know, it’s been crazy. You’re the man of the hour and, um, it certainly was hard to get a word in edgewise with all of your admirers following you around." Noah winced. He wanted it to sound like one of the thousands of gentle and teasing barbs the two men had thrown at each other over the past few years, but it came out whiny and sarcastic.

You have no right.

Dan’s smile faded and looked at Noah thoughtfully. He dropped his hand and folded his arms protectively in front of him. Noah’s eyes were teasing him, but the tone of the comment was decidedly not matching his expression. Dan decided he did not want to have that conversation right now, or ever again for that matter.

He redirected the subject and the mood. "I’m glad you were here tonight Noah", he said softly.

Noah’s looked at him, his gaze steady and strong. "I wouldn’t be anywhere else. It was an honor to present you with this award. I know how much it means to you, to get acknowledged from your, the community."

Dan smiled, "I really liked what you said. It meant a lot. You wrote it by yourself?"

"Well mostly, Emily and Annie and I kind of decided who would say what, but we wrote our actual individual scripts."

Dan was looking at him thoughtfully, and then he remembered what had shocked him during Noah's adorable introduction . "Hmm. Unassumingly sexy? "

Noah coughed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, he was sweating. Gross. " Eh, yeah, about that"

Dan interrupted, his voice slightly shrill, "I didn’t know you heard me say that."

Noah looked up, shocked. "What, um, well, yeah", he stated eloquently.

"Noah, I said that about you the day you auditioned, after you left. How, how did you hear it? Did someone tell you?" His eyebrows go up, as he remembers who from casting was in the room that day. He remembers he also talked to Sarah right after the audition. "Did Sarah tell you?"

Noah shuffled in place, looking down and back up in that way that Dan till this day cannot quite figure out is Noah or Patrick.

"I, um, you." Get it together Reid. "No, no one told me. Well, after I left the audition room, I realized I forgot my sunglasses so I came back, but you were talking and something made me not want to interrupt. I realized you were talking about me, so I listened outside the door for a second and then left."

Dan is nervous all of a sudden, frowns, "What else did you hear?". He uncrosses his arms, then crosses them again.

Noah can’t hold back his smirk.

Dan blushes. Oh. No.

"I’m glad you liked my outfit that day Daniel, that it made such a lasting, um, impression on you."

Dan glared, but even he could tell it had a soft landing, "Um. Yes, you looked very in, in character, exactly like I pictured Patrick. But you know, that was a very long time ago, it’s funny you remembered that since I don’t think I have actually ever said it again."

Noah was about to volley back, but instead grew serious. "I remember the things you say Daniel."

Oh. Dan’s smile disappeared and he looked directly at Noah. Smoldering was the word his mind would come up with when he remembered this moment later. Noah’s glance at him was smoldering. The two men were not standing very close but their bodies leaned towards each other. Noah reached out his hand to Dan who grabbed it. As they moved together closer together, there was a loud knock at the door.

"Dan, are you in there? Some of us are going to the hotel bar for karaoke, are you in?"

Noah had jumped back at the knock. "Jesus Christ, fucking Emily", he muttered under his breath. He was breathing heavily and he turned away, putting a hand on the counter and running his other hand through his hair. Dan’s pose almost mirrored Noah’s, but he got it together first and shouted to Emily that he will be out in a fucking minute.

The two men turned to look at each other once they heard Emily move away from the door. Was it seconds, minutes or hours they stood there staring, their eyes filled with desire and longing and confusion and pure unadulterated lust.

You have no right, Reid.

In an instant, Dan felt himself being pulled roughly into Noah’s arms. He gasped once again at the strength in the smaller man’s upper body. Noah grabbed Dan’s biceps while Dan pulled Noah closer to him by his waist. They look that they shared seemed to encompass years and years of feelings between them. Noah sighed and then he put his hand to Dan’s face while Dan pulled their bodies even closer together, their thin sweatpants not hiding their passion very well. They moved toward one another at the same time and smashed their lips together, everything that they were feeling at that moment, everything they ever felt, everything they wanted to feel in the future, was poured into that kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'Separate Lives' by Phil Collins  
> Back in my day it was called 'shipping ', not rpf. So welcome to one of my favorite ships, Dan Levy and Noah Reid.


End file.
